Discipline.

For many of us, the word alone evokes dread. It's not that we don't want to be disciplined physically, mentally, and spiritually. The challenge seems too hard, and the motivation more about duty than desire. When it comes to our Christian walk, we don't want to be legalistic and just follow some set of rules. That's not what it's all about, right?

Barbara Hughes answers with this encouraging reality: The true heart of spiritual discipline is a relationship with God. As you grow in that relationship, embracing your heavenly Father and his ways, you discover that discipline is your lifeline to him. It is how he gives meaningful shape to all the days of your life.

The "dread" of a disciplined life will be replaced with desire and anticipation as you find that there is no greater purpose than loving Him in every moment, every activity, and every thought. Using poignant stories and faithful reminders, Barbara opens her own heart to help you find the joy of full surrender. Her honest and encouraging look at the Word of God reveals the keys to living a truly godly life. And to strengthen your walk day to day, she offers hymns and praise psalms for your devotional times, a long list of recommended books that will lift your spirits, and Bible study helps to remind you that you're not alone.

Discipline seems like a hard word, but discipline is your lifeline, something that you learn to embrace and thank God for as you grow in him. The apostle Paul links the idea of discipline with spiritual life: "Train yourself for godliness"--referring to a spiritual workout--for "godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come" (1 Timothy 4:7-8). A Christian woman's life is about bringing her will and every area of her life under submission to God's will. 1. Discipline of the Gospel: The Source of Godliness "Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures" (1 Corinthians 15:3). To be a godly woman you must know what this gospel is, believe it, and make it the center of your life. Never lose the wonder of the gospel. John 3:16 is not only a beautiful summary of what God has done, it ought to be the true center of our living--defining, motivating, and satisfying us. The gospel is a woman's first and most important discipline, for it is the source of godliness. 2. Discipline of Submission: The Posture of Godliness It saddens me that submission has been eliminated from our cultural vocabulary. Bringing our lives into submission to God's will in everything is the key to being a godly woman (Philippians 2:8-11). It is also the path to joy. Submission applies to every area of our lives, and we begin by restoring the gospel to its rightful place at the center of our thoughts and deeds everyday. It's an ongoing, daily choosing of God's ways over our own ways (James 4:7-10; Hebrews 12:9). Is the will of God more important than our lives (Luke 9:24)? 3. Discipline of Prayer: Submission's Lifeline Pray "at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication" (Ephesians 6:18). Prayer is the source of power for growth and perseverance in our spiritual lives. It bends our wills to God's, which is what submitting our lives is all about. Prayer cannot be reduced to a few simple rules, and though we sometimes talk about meditation, confession, adoration, submission, and petition, there is no prescribed order. But continual prayer is God's will for us... we must always be "looking up," even when driving to work or cleaning the house. 4. Discipline of Worship: Submission's Celebration Worship encompasses all of life: "Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship" (Romans 12:1). Because Christ is the ultimate revelation of God (Colossians 1:15-20), he must be the central focus of our worship as understood through Scripture (1 Timothy 4:13). Worship --whether by oneself at home, in the workplace, classroom, or with the church gathered--is consecration. Every woman who calls herself a Christian must understand that worship is the ultimate priority of her life... every day. 5. Discipline of Mind: Submission's Education No computer will ever be able to think God's thoughts or know the heart of God or do his works. But it's what the brain was created for--to have the mind of Christ. What a scandal that so many Christians don't think Christianly! In one comprehensive sentence, Paul prescribes his personal mental program: "Whatever is true... honorable... just... pure... lovely... commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things" (Philippians 4:8). If you are filled with God's Word, your life can then be informed and directed by God--your relationships at home, parenting, career, ethical decisions, and internal moral life. 6. Discipline of Contentment: Submission's Rest Paul wrote from prison that he had "learned in whatever situation I am to be content" (Philippians 4:11). Fortunately for us, he said that he had "learned"... there is hope for all of us who face the monster of discontent! Applying our knowledge of God to our circumstances is the key to contentment. It will be ours when all that God is and all that he has done in Christ fills our heart. We may lack many things in this world, but as godly women we must work to develop the discipline of contentment. 7. Discipline of Propriety: Submission's Behavior Propriety means behaving in ways appropriate for Christians--actions that don't bring shame to the Gospel and to Christ. Propriety elevates our words, our appearance, and our attitudes. It's a perfect word for describing what Paul means when he tells believers to act "in a manner of life...worthy of the gospel" (Philippians 1:27). Propriety means acting in a way worthy of the Gospel in dress (1 Peter 3:3-4), speech, and attitude (Colossians 3:12-14). If your behavior is worthy of the Gospel, the source of that behavior will be a heart authentically bowed in humble submission to Jesus as Lord. 8. Discipline of Perseverance: Submission's Challenge Faith in the goodness of God in the face of extreme adversity grows out of a discipline of perseverance in the day-in, day-out grind of everyday life. "Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us" (Hebrews 12:1). We all can develop perseverance by daily submitting to God's will and looking to Jesus in whatever irritating, insignificant duties or grand-scale tragedies we may suffer (Romans 8:18; Hebrews 12:3). It involves submitting to God in our trials while trusting him to be good, wise, merciful, just, kind, lovingly all-knowing, and all-powerful. 9. Discipline of Singleness or Marriage: Submission's Framework Singleness is a positive assignment (1 Corinthians 7:7) to be joyously received knowing that God doesn't plan to give anyone less than the best. If marriage is our "assignment," then we must discipline ourselves to submit to God's will--to live as our husbands' helpers (Genesis 2:18), submitting to and respecting their position (Ephesians 5:22-24), and developing a gentle and quiet spirit (1 Peter 3:1). As single or married daughters of Eve--the "mother of all living" (Genesis 3:20)--we must cultivate nurturing spirits. How we care for others will be dictated by where God places us--in a home, in a hospital, in the inner city, wherever. 10. Discipline of Good Deeds: Submission's Industry As believers we are "created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10). Good deeds are the redeemed heart's response of gratitude for the gift of God's grace (1 Peter 2:12). We gospel women must determine to develop the discipline of good deeds: "as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith" (Galatians 6:10). Let us fill our days with good deeds. As you cultivate the disciplines of godly womanhood, consider Paul's words: "I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me" (1 Corinthians 15:10). There is no contradiction between grace and hard work. As we attempt to do God's will, he always gives more grace!

Sculptured figural motifs were an important component of many buildings in the Hellenistic world, and their frequent relegation to subsidiary status has, until now, left our knowledge of both Hellenistic architecture and sculpture incomplete. In Hellenistic Architectural Sculpture, Pamela A. Webb examines the full range of figural embellishment - from simple to complex, on large monuments as well as on more obscure ones, and in the major population centers as well as the smaller cities, sanctuaries, and isolated areas throughout western Anatolia and the Aegean islands. In this book, the first to focus specifically on the figural adornment of Hellenistic architecture, Webb provides extensive information about the chronology and interpretation of figural motifs adorning religious, civic, commercial, commemorative, and domestic constructions. She finds that figural sculptures adorn structures at every level from the ground to the roof, and display a wide variety of motifs on such architectural elements as columns, walls, entablatures, pediments, and cornices. 142 illustrations of Hellenistic monuments - temples, altars, cult buildings, heroa, theaters, bouleuteria, stoas, gymnasia, and houses - and their sculptured adornment complement the author's descriptions and analyses. The book features an extensive bibliography, citing resources from the early nineteenth century to the most recent publications.

This anthology offers modern readers modern, new translations of the lyric poetry transcribed or written by medieval Irish monks. Irish poets were the first Europeans to write in the vernacular, though few people now read this poetry in its original. Well known for her translations of the poetry of classical Greece, ancient Egypt, and medieval Portugal, Barbara Hughes Fowler once again makes the poetry of another era accessible to a new generation.

The 35 lyrics in this collection were composed between 800 and 1200 A.D., all of them anonymously, although some are attributed to legendary or historical figures who had died centuries before. Irish monks wrote them in the margins of the manuscripts they were copying, or they interpolated poems they either knew or composed into the pagan tales they were recording.

Many of these poems are about what the Irish called Tir na n'Og, the Land of the Young. This was not a place you went after death if you behaved yourself in life. It was where imaginative Irish longed to go -- a paradise of lovely women, bountiful food and drink, and endless treasures of silver, gold, and jewels. The monks who composed or recorded such lyrics preserved their Celtic heritage while making concessions to Christianity, as in these stanzas from "Fair Lady, Will You Go With Me?"

The earth is watered by sweet streams.

We drink the best of mead and wine.

Perfect are the people there.

Conception has no guilt or sin.

We see every one about, and no one sees us, because the darkness caused by Adam's sin prevents them from counting us.

Lyric poems, rooted so firmly in the expression of human emotion, travel well from an ancient culture to a modern one in thehands of a fine translator. Rendered into language and form intended for a general readership, these lyrics help to preserve an ancient and rich culture.

Best remembered for his unfinished epic, the Aeneid , the poet Vergil was celebrated in his time both for the perfection of his art and for the centrality of his ideas to Roman culture. The Eclogues , his earliest confirmed work, were composed in part out of political considerations: when the Roman authorities threatened to seize his family's land, Vergil's appeal in the form of Eclogue IX won a stay. Eclogue I appears to be a thank-you for that favor. Barbara Hughes Fowler provides scholars and students with a new American verse translation of Vergil's Eclogues . An accomplished translator, Fowler renders the poet's words into an English that is contemporary while remaining close to the spirit of the original. In an introduction to the text, she compares the treatment of the pastoral form by Vergil and Theocritus, illuminating the ways in which Vergil borrowed from and built upon the earlier poet's work, and thereby moved the genre in a new direction. |A variety of important but lesser-known dimensions of the Chancellorsville campaign are explored in this collection of eight original essays. Departing from the traditional focus on generalship and tactics, the contributors address the campaign's broad context and implications and revisit specific battlefield episodes that have in the past been poorly understood. Contributors include Keith S. Bohannon, Gary W. Gallagher, A. Wilson Greene, John J. Hennessy, Robert K. Krick, James Marten, Carol Reardon, and James I. Robertson Jr.

Portugal enjoyed one of the richest and most sophisticated cultures of the Middle Ages, in part because of its vibrant secular literature. One popular literary genre of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries was the cantigas de amigo , love songs in which male poets wrote from a female perspective. More than five hundred of these mysterious poems depicting a young girl's love for an absent lover survive today. Until now, however, they have remained inaccessible except to a small circle of scholars. In her translation of nearly one hundred representative examples of the cantigas de amigo , Barbara Hughes Fowler recovers the beauty of these poems for the modern reader. Her accurate and elegant renderings capture the charming spontaneity of the lyrics and show them to be a uniquely appealing form of medieval literature. (excerpt of one of the poems) Lovely mother, I saw my friend but did not speak with him and so I lost him, but now I'm dying of love for him. I did not speak because of my disdain; I'm dying, mother, for love of him. |Since its original publication in 1975, this book has become important teaching tool and research volume. Billings brings together more than 200 period documents, on topics including the settlement of Jamestown, the evolution of government and the structure of society, forced labor, the economy, Indian-Anglo relations, and Bacon's Rebellion. This new edition includes approximately 30 additional documents. Freshly rethought chapter introductions and suggested readings incorporate the vast scholarship of the past 30 years. Also includes new illustrations of 17th-century artifacts and buildings as well as a full index.

Ancient Egypt is often thought of as a gloomy society obsessed with death. But a collection of papyri, dating to the latter half of the New Kingdom (ca. 1305-1080 B.C.), presents us with delicate love lyrics that dispel any such illusion. These vibrant love poems, purported to be by boys and girls perhaps as young as thirteen or fourteen years of age, are remarkable for their innocent sensuousness. Combining her notable skills as a translator and a poet, Barbara Fowler provides the first accurate translation of these love lyrics into modern English-language poetry. Her renderings are both elegant and correct. They preserve the charm of a long-lost civilization, while making it possible for readers to appreciate one aspect of that culture in our time and through our language.
Originally published in 1994.
A UNC Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original, and are presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both historical and cultural value.

The main aim of this book is to bring Hellenistic poetry to life for the contemporary reader. The selection of poems reflects the wide range of poetic genres, styles, themes and moods of the period. It includes the author's translation of the complete ""Argonautica"" of Apollonius of Rhodes, and eight of Theocritus' ""Idylls"". There are translations of four hymns of Callimachus, as well as poems by Aratus, Bion, Herodas, Moschus, Pseudo-Moschus and a selection from the ""Greek Anthology"". This book may serve as a companion to ""The Hellenistic Aesthetic"" by the same author.

This anthology offers modern readers modern, new translations of the lyric poetry transcribed or written by medieval Irish monks. Irish poets were the first Europeans to write in the vernacular, though few people now read this poetry in its original. Well known for her translations of the poetry of classical Greece, ancient Egypt, and medieval Portugal, Barbara Hughes Fowler once again makes the poetry of another era accessible to a new generation.

The 35 lyrics in this collection were composed between 800 and 1200 A.D., all of them anonymously, although some are attributed to legendary or historical figures who had died centuries before. Irish monks wrote them in the margins of the manuscripts they were copying, or they interpolated poems they either knew or composed into the pagan tales they were recording.

Many of these poems are about what the Irish called Tir na n'Og, the Land of the Young. This was not a place you went after death if you behaved yourself in life. It was where imaginative Irish longed to go -- a paradise of lovely women, bountiful food and drink, and endless treasures of silver, gold, and jewels. The monks who composed or recorded such lyrics preserved their Celtic heritage while making concessions to Christianity, as in these stanzas from "Fair Lady, Will You Go With Me?"

The earth is watered by sweet streams.

We drink the best of mead and wine.

Perfect are the people there.

Conception has no guilt or sin.

We see every one about, and no one sees us, because the darkness caused by Adam's sin prevents them from counting us.

Lyric poems, rooted so firmly in the expression of human emotion, travel well from an ancient culture to a modern one in thehands of a fine translator. Rendered into language and form intended for a general readership, these lyrics help to preserve an ancient and rich culture.

"Fowler's . . . own insights are apparent throughout, and they seem to distill the personal appreciation and understanding of a scholar who has devoted much of her career to both contemplating and enjoying Hellenistic poetry. . . . [This book] would make an excellent background text for courses in later Greek and Roman art, and it can be read with profit by anyone interested in exploring the character of Hellenistic culture."-J. J. Pollitt, American Journal of Archaeology "Outstanding is the range of examples discussed both in poetry and art. Theocritus, Callimachus, Appolonius, the epigrammatists, and others-that is, the major figures of the time-are considered at length and in several different contexts. Passages are quoted in the original Greek, translated, and analyzed. Fowler's sensitivity to poetic forms, evident in her other published writings, is again evident here. In addition, however, the philosophical context is not overlooked. . . . Also highly commendable are the liberal references to works of art. Sculpture in the round and in relief, portraits, terracotta figurines, original paintings (grave stelai) and Campanian murals, mosaics, gold and silver vessels, and jewelry are introduced at various points. Every work of art discussed is illustrated in astonishingly clear photographs, which are interspersed in the body of the text."-Christine Mitchell Havelock "The Hellenistic Aesthetic provides classicists with their first thorough discussion of the aesthetic unity found in Hellenistic art and literature. . . . Fowler examines parallels both in subject matter and in artistic approach among a diverse group of literary genres and artistic forms. In twelve chapters, The Hellenistic Aesthetic surveys Alexandrian epigrams, pastorals, epics, sculptural groups, mosaics, paintings, and jewelry to supply a convincing, and frequently unexpected, picture of a unified aesthetic vision."-Jeffrey Buller, Classical Outlook

"The Hughes, parents of four grown children and eighteen grandchildren, offer biblical guidelines and practical ideas for raising a family that loves the Lord and one another."
-Christian Retailing

"Provides help for families who want to honor the Lord through structure in their homes. The Hughes family, though they are not perfect (and they are the first to attest to that fact), speak from their own spiritual experience and growth. We are fortunate that they share their insights so others can profit."
-The Baptist Bulletin

"Kent and Barbara Hughes draw from the Bible as well as from their own experience in raising children to offer readers simple, practical ideas about how to raise a godly family and have fun in the process. Disciplines of a Godly Family is ideal for young parents who are just beginning their family voyage, as well as for those who need help along the way. Recommend this book to both parents and grandparents."
-Lutheran News

Disciplines of a Godly Family covers such topics as establishing a solid family heritage, promoting affection between family members, encouraging godliness in children, using appropriate discipline, and helping children cultivate enriching lifelong habits. The Hugheses also offer tips for fun and affordable family vacations, creating family traditions, and starting a prayer notebook. They even give us a suggested list of books and videos that should be in every family's library.

For those struggling to parent their own children or to equip other parents for this task, a more practical, honest, and common-sense guide will be hard to find.